POST GAME PORTLAND

GAME STATS

REBOUNDS - CELTICS 36 /PORT 47.....Offensive - CELTICS 6 /PORT 11 ......Defensive - CELTICS 30/PORT 36
POINTS IN THE PAINT - CELTICS 36 /PORT 32
FAST BREAK POINTS - CELTICS 19 / PORT 7
FG - CELTICS - 36/85 (42.4 %) PORT 35/79 (44.3 %)
3PM - CELTICS 2/13 (15.4%) PORT 7/21 (33.3 %)
FTM - CELTICS 12/15 (80.0%) PORT 15/19 (78.9 %)
TO - CELTICS 9 / PORT 16
ASSISTS - CELTICS 16 / PORT 21
STL - CELTICS 9 / PORT 4
BLK - CELTICS 2 / PORT 2
PF - CELTICS 18 / PORT 16
BENCH POINTS - CELTICS 19 / PORT 11
TOTAL TEAM TURNOVERS (Points off turnovers) – CELTICS 9 (11) /PORT 16 (16)

NEXT GAME MONDAY - AT JAZZ - 9:00PM - CSNE/NBA CHANNEL


POST GAME RECAP


ESPNBOSTON.COM

Rapid Reaction: Blazers 92, Celtics 86

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

Rapid reaction after the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Boston Celtics 92-86 on Sunday night at the Rose Garden:

THE NITTY GRITTY
Wesley Matthews scored a game-high 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting, hitting five 3-pointers, including a clutch triple in the final minute that helped Portland emerge with the win. Damian Lillard added a mild 12 points to go along with six assists and six rebounds, but his old-fashioned three-point play with 1:32 to go provided the winning points. Nick Batum (18 points) and LaMarcus Aldridge (16 points) did their part, while J.J. Hickson added a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) for the Blazers. Paul Pierce looked like he was taking over the game at times, finishing with 23 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds over 32 minutes to pace Boston. Kevin Garnett added 20 points and nine rebounds after sitting out Friday's win in Phoenix, but Boston's bench mustered a mere 19 total points.

TURNING POINT
The Celtics were down eight with under six minutes to go, but made a little charge that featured scoring on five straight possessions, culminating with a Garnett layup to tie the game at 86 with 1:46 to play. Unfazed, the Blazers attacked with Lillard in the pick-and-roll and, when Avery Bradley got snagged going over the top, Lillard got to the hoop for the layup and the foul. Pierce missed a tying triple at the other end and Matthews provided the dagger with a step-back 3-pointer with 53 ticks to go.

C's COME BACK TO EARTH
After scorching the Suns while putting up 113 points in Friday's win in Phoenix, the Celtics labored in the first half against Portland, shooting a mere 37.8 percent (17 of 45 overall). Green, coming off a 31-point outburst in a spot start against the Suns, missed 6 of 8 shots in the first half, while newcomers Jordan Crawford and Terrence Williams missed all six shots they put up in that same span. Portland shot 51.4 percent (19 of 37 overall), but only led by seven at the intermission. Green finished the game with 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting and was a team-worst minus-17 in plus/minus, while the rest of the bench was a mere 3-of-14 shooting for 8 measly points.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
Celtics coach Doc Rivers, unhappy with whistles early on, got tagged with a technical foul midway through the first quarter. Rivers now has five techs this season, including two in Boston's last three games.

WHAT IT MEANS
A tough loss for the Celtics, who made the late charge and looked like they were going to find a way to win despite playing lackluster ball for much of the night. Boston falls to 1-3 on this five-game road trip with a tough finale looming Monday in Utah. If Friday's win in Phoenix without Garnett was of the "feel-good" variety, this one will be filed in the "kicking themselves" category by Boston. The Celtics have to battle through any weary legs Monday knowing they have only one game over the following seven days.
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CSNE

Celtics come up short against Blazers, 92-86

A. SHERROD BLAKLEY

PORTLAND, Ore. — On a night when the world was watching who would be taking home some shiny new hardware in Hollywood, the Boston Celtics were playing a little basketball game in Portland.

But their performance was far from award-winning with Portland holding on for a 92-86 victory to snap their seven-game losing streak.

All five Portland starters were in double figures, led by Wesley Matthews' game-high 24 points. For the Celtics, Pierce led the C's with 23 points along with eight assists and seven rebounds.

Sunday's loss guarantees that the Celtics (29-27) will return home having racked up more losses than victories during their West coast excursion.

In addition, it serves as yet another game in which the Green Team walked off the floor feeling as though they let one get away.

Boston spent most of the fourth quarter trailing, but seemed a five-to seven-point spurt away from taking over. That run never came, and it wasn't totally because of Portland's defense, either.

With a chance to either tie the game or take the lead, Jason Terry threw a pass from one side of the court to another which was stolen and ultimately led to a Portland lay-up.

Trailing 75-73, the C's defense forced Portland's Nicolas Batum into a last-second shot attempt from well beyond the 3-point line. The shot was off the mark, but Batum was fouled on the play by Terrence Williams. Batum made two of the three free throws to put Portland back on top by four points.

Boston had another shot at making it a one possession game, only to see Paul Pierce's shot in the lane roll in and out. Another Celtics' defensive stop was followed by another Celtics' miss.

It was that kind of game for Boston.

But when it seemed the Celtics were on the verge of being put away for good, they started to make a mini-comeback.

A jumper by Brandon Bass followed by an alley-oop dunk by Kevin Garnett brought the C's within four points again. The Celtics eventually tied the game at 86 following a driving lay-up by Kevin Garnett with less than two minutes to play.

But Portland's Damian Lillard countered with a 3-point play that put the Blazers ahead 89-86 with 1:32 to play.

And a Matthews' 3-pointer - his fifth of the night - with less than a minute to play put the game away for good.

In the end, there were far too many empty possessions throughout the game by Boston that eventually caught up with them, providing just what Portland needed to squeak out the victory.

Several factors contributed to the loss, but the C's start to the game wasn't one of them.

Once again the Celtics got off to a fast start as they raced out to a 7-0 lead. But it didn't take long for the Blazers to get back in the game and eventually lead by as many as seven points in the first.

Prior to the game, Celtics coach singled out Batum as one of the players the C's had to be concerned with making a major impact.

"Batum is so important to them winning," said Rivers.

He led all scorers with nine points in the first quarter, followed closely by LaMarcus Aldridge (eight points) and Matthews (seven points).

The C's had eight different scorers in the first with Pierce leading the way with five points. But it wasn't enough as the Celtics trailed 27-21 after the first.

Boston had their chances in the second quarter, but just couldn't replicate the success and dominance they displayed just 48 hours earlier.

Terrence Williams who was credited with being a key performer in Boston's win over the Suns, reminded us all why he's on a 10-day contract.

A slew of possessions in which he made poor decisions in either his shot selection or passing, had the look and feel of former Celtic Nate Robinson - and fellow Seattle native - who fluctuated often between the "Good Nate Robinson" and the "Bad Nate Robinson."

On Sunday, Celtics fans saw the "Bad T-Will" for the first time. He was soon back on the bench, but it didn't matter.

Portland continued to maintain a lead for the rest of the half which ended with the Blazers ahead 49-42.

Keeping the Celtics in the game was Pierce who usually plays well against the Blazers.

In fact, Pierce came into Sunday's game shooting 48.1 percent against the Blazers. Only Pierce's career shooting average of 48.5 percent against Detroit is higher.

When it came to shooting well, Pierce was on his own relative to his teammates while connecting on five of his six shot attempts.

The rest of the C's were a combined 12-for-39 or 30.7 percent.

That said, to be trailing by just seven points at the half had to be one of the few positives the Celtics took into the locker room.
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WEEI 93.7 FM

CELTICS CONTINUE ROAD SPUTTER IN PORTLAND WITH LOSS TO BLAZERS 02.24.13 at

The Celtics lost for the third time in four games since the All-Star break, falling to Portland, 92-86.

Guard Wesley Matthews posted 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting to lead the Blazers, though Portland's dominance on the boards proved a difference-maker. Portland grabbed 47 rebounds, 11 more than the Celtics corralled.

In defeat, the Celtics were led by Paul Pierce (23 points) and Kevin Garnett (20 points), but the team lacked offensive production from the rest of its rotation. Celtics newcomer Jordan Crawford was held scoreless in 12 minutes, missing all four of his shots.

The Celtics fell to 1-3 on their current Western Conference swing, and now face a need to bounce back on Monday in Utah before heading back home. The Celtics are 9-18 on the road this year.

112288

One of those games where the Celtics played with ZERO urgency. As if they knew they were the better team - and they could just turn it on with 5 minutes to go and take the game over.

T Williams came back to earth and made a number of poor passes and bad decisions. Crawford was a no show, same with Green for the most part.

Refs were pretty awful - but all of their bad calls came before crunch time.

Doc is simply not getting through to this team on a night in, night out basis. Not sure why

MRK:

No Doc won't be able to get through because this team is consistently inconsistent.

MD!

I think the problem last night especially the 2 new guys was the fact that they need time to develop synergy with the rest of the team, and the team needs to develop synergy with them.

I think the Suns game was a little premature in terms of creating synergy with all teammates because the Suns are so bad, but it also showed that if they are able to meld their talents cohesively together they can be a dangerous team. Portland was a better team.

I am interest in this guy Whiate and what energy/physicality he brings to the team...especially collecting rebounds.

I'll borrow a saying from Sam.......See me in April 1st.

112288

112288:

April 1st, The date named for the 1969 movie of the name, "The April Fools,". It starred Jack Lemon, Catherine Deneuve and Peter Lawford. We might be better served renting the movie on that day, No Foolin'!

MD!

112288 wrote:I think the problem last night especially the 2 new guys was the fact that they need time to develop synergy with the rest of the team, and the team needs to develop synergy with them.

I think the Suns game was a little premature in terms of creating synergy with all teammates because the Suns are so bad, but it also showed that if they are able to meld their talents cohesively together they can be a dangerous team. Portland was a better team.

I am interest in this guy Whiate and what energy/physicality he brings to the team...especially collecting rebounds.

I'll borrow a saying from Sam.......See me in April 1st.

112288

If you're interested in seeing DJ White collecting rebounds, you're gonna be disappointed. In the only season he played decent minutes (last year for Charlotte) he only got 209 rebounds in 1,098 minutes for a terrible rate of only one rebound every 5.25 minutes - awful for a 6'9" 251 power forward. Even Brandon Bass, a lousy rebounder himself, has been slightly better his last two seasons - one rebound every 5.19 minutes - than White.

Don't get your hopes up. White is weak on the boards. That's why he was available to anyone.

Losing very winbable games all year reflects a serious deficiency in the overall mental toughness of the team.

It is a team issue.

Hope they find it soon.

Dboss

MD,

YOU FIGURED OUT MY SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE!

112288

112288,

Just to be specific, I don't specify a date in April. That would constitute more of a prediction, and I don't make predictions.

All I mean by that statement is that it's premature to discuss the Celtics' long-term prospects until April.

Sam

I know Sam you talk about April with no specific date. I was just having some fun with the April 1st date....but I will say, wait until beginning of April to see if the new guys can jell with the team or not and that will dictate what happens in the playoffs.

112288